Posted on 10/16/2009 3:51:24 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Tynan: "I was too stupid with my mouth"
Irish tenor Ronan Tynan is belting out red-faced apologies today for alleged anti-Semitic remarks he made to a Jewish doctor looking at an apartment in his East Side building -- comments, he said, that were merely a joke.
Famous for singing "God Bless America" at Yankee stadium, "Ave Maria" at the funeral of Ronald Reagan and songs for Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Tynan is now striking a chord of penitence and reconciliation.
"It was stupid of me to be so callous, and I would never want to hurt anybody's feelings," Tynan told NBC New York.
But the damage may already be done as the Yankees have silenced the tenor -- canceling his scheduled Friday night appearance during the 7th-inning stretch of Game 1 of the League Championship Series, according to a team spokesman.
The trouble began on Thursday when the 49-year-old Tynan bumped into a Halstead Property real estate agent showing an apartment on his floor to a potential buyer, a pediatrician from NYU Medical Center.
The real estate agent said to the tenor, famous for his association with Yankees, “Don’t worry they are not Red Sox fans,” according to the apartment-hunter, Dr. Gabrielle Gold-von Simson.
To which Tynan replied, "I don’t care about that, as long as they are not Jewish," Gabrielle Gold-von Simson told NBC New York.
“Why is that?” asked a flabbergasted Gold-von Simson of the singer.
And Tynan responded that Jewish ladies had been looking at the apartment before and they were "scary," according to Gold-von Simson.
The singer now claims he was joking, but the good doctor didn't see it that way.
"I didn't know him at all so how could I take it as a joke," said Gold-von Simson.
Tynan for his part said it was just a “big misunderstanding.”
“I’m not anti-Semitic and I have never been in my life,” Tynan told NBC New York. “There are three members of my band that are Jewish. And I love them like brothers. I call them my brothers from another mother.”
The real estate broker Richard Rosenthal did not want to comment for this article, but Halstead Properties issued a statement about the incident.
“We are shocked that this happened to our agent and their customer, "said Robyn Kammerer, Halstead’s vice president of communications. "It was truly an appalling statement and it saddens us that this type of behavior still occurs in today’s society.”
Tynan admitted to making the comment but said it was all in jest, Howard Rubenstein, the Yankees publicist told NBC New York.
The Yankees reached out to Tynan and Gold-von Simson to confirm the story and canceled Tynan’s appearance at Friday’s night league championship opener.
Tynan then called Gold-von Simson immediately to apologize and has agreed to make a donation to the NYU pediatric center where she works, Rubenstein said. "A lot of my friends are Jewish," said Tynan. "It's something misfortunate, I was too stupid with my mouth." Gold-von Simson said she accepted the Irishman's mea culpa.
"Absolutely," she said. "It was a sincere apology." The incident appears to be an ugly stain on life celebrated as an inspiration. His legs were amputated in his twenties due to a childhood disability but he went on to become a medical doctor, international recording star and motivational speaker, according to his website.
Tynan rose to great fame in New York after 9/11 performing at many benefits and memorials for fallen members of the NYPD and FDNY. His performance at the Yankee games in those dark months cemented his legend. He sang also at the wedding of friend former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his third wife Judith Nathan, and at the 80th birthday party of former President George H.W. Bush.
ML/NJ
We have become a nation of thin skined whiners.
A guy goes to confession and tells the priest he made love to five beautiful women in one night. The priest says “ a young single Catholic should not sleep with one woman let alone five in one night. Say the rosary every night for a week.”
The guy says “ but fadder I’m not young... I’m 72 years old. And I’m not single I’m married.” The priest whispers “how dare you tell me you are cheating on your poor pathetic wife. As a Catholic you are a disgrace.” The guy says “wrong again father...I’m not Catholic .I am Jewish. The priest says “Your Jewish!. Why are you in the confessional telling me about it?” The guy says “I’m telling EVERYBODY”.
Jesse Jackson has said worse but the difference is he meant it.
Racism isn’t words, it is action.....
Private conversation. The “offendee” could have let it drop but nooooo...she’s now empowered. She’s a VICTIM. She can now use this as a weapon to punish her oppressor.
Its kind of a weird thing to say to someone you don’t know.
I’d believe it was a joke if he knew the person and knew the person would know he was razzing them. To say it to someone he doesn’t know, it doesn’t really sound like a joke.
My guess is that alcohol was involved. Alcohol has a way of making people think things are funny, when they aren’t, as well as lowering inhibitions to say whatever pops into one’s mind. One of a long, long list of reasons I don’t touch the stuff.
Shame he’s not a Harvard professor.......he could have kept his job and had beer at the White House too.......
Are you suggesting he is drunk because he is irish, because I don’t find alcohol anywhere in the story?
Never apologize to the perpetually offended. Or just apologize once. They take showing some class as a sign of weakness.
No, I’m suggesting he was drunk because of his impulsive display of amazingly poor judgement.
It should read "You're Jewish!"
"You're" is a contraction, or a combination, of the words "you" and "are".
The word "your" is the possessive form of you, referring to something that a person has, or something that belongs to the person in discussion.
“”You’re” is a contraction, or a combination, of the words “you” and “are”.
__________________________________________
You really do not need the comma after the word combination.
You do not need the word "really" in the above sentence.
You really, really didn’t need to do that. Really.
If I want to I will.
She accepted the guy's apology. That seems to count as 'letting it drop' to me.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.